Textile processing machine



g 37 1954 A. D. RoUBLoFF ET AL 2,636,413

TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1950 2 SheetsSheet l Aug., 17, R954 A. D. ROUBLOFF ETAL 2,685,433

Y TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Filed sept. 14, 195o 2 sheetssheet 2 INVENTORS Alexander foals/off d0/er WfAr/O/a ,47m/wn;

Patented ug. 17, 1954 TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Alexander D. Boubloff, Kenmore, and Walter W.

Arnold, Snyder, N. Y., assignors to The Wiesner-Rapp Co., Inc., Buffalo, N. Y.

Applica-tion September 14, 1950, Serial No. 184,822

4 Claims. l

This invention relates to textile processing machinery, and more particularly to machines of the type known as padders, extractors, and the like.

Machines of this class customarily employ multiple rolls through which a textile strand or ribbon passes for purposes such as padding dye materials into the fabric or for squeezing liquids out of a previously saturated fabric, incidental to dyeing or washing or other chemical treating processes. However, in the past considerable diiiiculty has been experienced with the problem of proper regulation of the pressures exerted by the different rolls of the machines, and the present invention has for its primary object the provision of an improved machine of the class described whereby the pressures exerted upon the textile strand at different passes thereof through the rollers of the machine may be selectively varied and accurately controlled in improved manner. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the specification hereinaiter.

in the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the invention partly broken away; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevation thereof.

As shown in the drawing, the machine of the invention includes opposite end pedestals Il) which may be in the form of castings or weldrnents or the like, appropriately interconnected by tie rods as indicated at il. While only one end portion is illustrated, it will be understood that the other end portion of the machine comprises companion parts which may be substantially like those shown, and accordingly various parts such as the pedestals i9 are referred to herein in plural although only one such part is shown. The machine illustrated in the drawing is of the padder type and therefore employs a pair of solution trays I2-l3 for holding dye or other solutions to be padded into the textile strand running through the machine. A strand inlet guide roll is provided as indicated at Hl over which the incoming strand of textile fabric trains as indicated at l5. A roll I 6 is mounted submerged in the tank l2 so that the fabric strip l trains thereunder and through the solution prior to running upwardly and over an expander roll I8, the longitudinal axis of which is inclined as indicated in Fig. 2 so that the textile strand training thereover is constantly biased so as to spread laterally. This is a conventional arrangement for maintaining the fabric width and preventing the textile strand from narrowing or roping together.

From the expander roll I8 the strand passes between a lower padder roll 29 and an intermediate padder roll 22 arranged to be power driven as indicated at 23. After passing over the roll 2t the strand runs downwardly and under a second roll 21.'. which is submerged in the second solution tank I3, and thence upwardly and over a guide roll 2B which delivers it into the gap between the intermediate roll 22 and an upper roll 2S. After passing around the upper roll 28 the strand passes on in the direction of the indicating arrow for delivery to the next operation.

Provision is made for regulation and control of the pressures exerted upon the strand l5 while the latter passes between the rolls 20-22, and between the rolls 22-28. To this end the intermediate roll 22 is positionally fixed by means of bearing blocks 29 at its opposite ends which are rigidly mounted upon the end pedestals Ill-l0 of the machine. The lower roll 20 however is mounted at its opposite ends upon rocker arms 39 which are fulcrumed at their front ends to the pedestals by means of pins 32 carried by xed brackets 33. At their other ends the arms 59 pivotally connect as indicated at 34 with extensible-contractible tie rods 36 which include dynamometer connection devices as indicated at 3l. The upper ends of the tie rods 36 pivotally connect as indicated at 38 to arms 39 which in turn provide bearing supports for the opposite ends of the upper roll 28. rThe arms 39 are fulcrumed upon the pedestals lll-I9 as indicated at lill, and the forward ends of the arms 39-39 pivotally connect as indicated at 4I with the upper ends of tie rods 42 which include dynamometer connection devices 44 and terminate in connections with the piston elements 136 of pneumatic cylinder piston units 48 which pivotally mount as indicated at 49 upon the stationary pedestal members. rihe dynamometer devices 3'i-il: may be of any suitable type such as are presently furnished as standard articles of manufacture to comprise spring-loaded extensible link members mounting calibrated dials giving readings as to the pressures exerted between the respective pair of rolls.

Thus, it will be appreciated that adjustment of the lengths of the link members 36, as by means of the hand wheels 50 and oppositely threaded joints 59a adjustable thereby in a turnbuckle-like arrangement, will provide complete control of the pressures exerted by the top and bottom rolls respectively against the middle roll. For example, in View of the position of the fulcrums 49 mounting the top roller arms 39, if the links 36 are sufficiently shortened by manipulation of the hand wheels 50 the bottom roll will be brought up into iirm bearing relation against the middle roll and the upper arms 39 will be rocked upon the fulcrums 40 so as to force the top roller to lift clear of the middle roller, regardless of operation of the pneumatic cylinder 48. On the other hand, if the link devices 36 are suiciently lengthened as by means of manipulation of the hand wheels 50, the previous upward pull of the links on the lower arms 30 will be released so that the bottom roll will tend to fall away from the middle roll while at the same time the upper arms 39 are biased upon their fulcrums 40 so as to force the upper roller to bear downwardly against the middle roll. Obviously, adjustments between the extended and retracted limits of the link devices 36 as explained hereinabove will provide a wide range of pressure adjustment relationships between the upper and bottom passes for the fabric between the machine rolls.

Also, it will be apparent that the dynamometer devices 31-44 will give readings of the pressures provided against the textile strand in the upper and lower passes of the machine. For example, assuming that the dynamometer dials are calibrated so as to compensate for the weights of the upper and lower rolls and their mounting arms, the dynamometer 31 will provide a direct visual indication of the pressure being exerted by the bottom roll upwardly against the middle roll; and the dynamometer 44 will indicate a total of the pressures exerted by both rolls upon the intermediate roll, and subtraction of the reading of the dynamometer 31 from the reading of the dynamometer 44 will therefore, give the pressure being exerted by the top roll against the middle roll modified by the mechanical advantage offered by the position of the fulcrums 40.

As indicated at 5I (Fig. 2) a stop device is preferably arranged between the two relatively movable parts of each of the dynamometer devices so as to avoid compression damage to the instruments whenever the lever and link system operates to apply compression instead of tension forces thereon. Also, self-latching dog devices as indicated at 52 (Fig. 1) are provided to swing by gravity down from positions overlapping the arms 30-30 as shown into positions against stops 53--53 and above the arms 36-30 for abutting engagement with the latter whenever the cylinders 48-48 are reversed so as to open the top and bottom rolls relative to the center roll, thereby holding the rolls apart until the dogs 52 are manually released. This is useful to prevent the, rolls from residing in pressure contact when the machine is not running, because otherwise such contact would result in deforming the rubber cover portions 29a, 28a of the rolls and thereby introducing jumping effects in the machine operation.

Thus, it is a particular feature of the present invention that an extremely compact machine of the class described is provided to include dual passes for the textile strand to be squeezed through employment of only three pressing rolls and a minimum of mounting and pressure regulating elements which are susceptible to easy and accurate ne adjustments at will, to provide any desired pressure forces uponthe textile strand as it moves through the different passes of the machine. If desired, the air pressures in the cylinders 48-48 maybe regulated so as to give proper padding pressures upon the textile strand, depending upon requirements in any given case for example an adjustable pressure regulator valve 54 may be disposed in the common air pressure supply line. Also, the reversal of the cylinders referred to may be conventionally accomplished, as by reversal of the pressure differential in the cylinders by means of a control valve 56 connected to the cylinders 48-48 by means of conduits 58, 58' and 80, 60' for admitting air pressure selectively to the upper or lower end of each of the cylinders and for simultaneously venting the opposite ends of the same.

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A textile process machine for executing a two-stage strand pressing operation, comprising a positionally fixed intermediate roll, an upper roll and lower roll disposed above and below said intermediate roll respectively, upper lever means for rotatably supporting said upper roll, lower lever means for rotatably supporting said lower roll, link means connecting the ends of the upper and lower lever means at one side of the roll axes to adjust the relative pressures exerted upon the intermediate roll by the upper roll and the lower roll, the opposite end of said lower lever means being pivotally supported by said machine at the opposite side of the roll axis, the upper lever means being pivotally supported by said machine at a point between the point of attachment of said link means and the axis of the roll, and powered link means carried by said machine and pivotally attached to the opposite end of said upper lever means for cooperation with said link means for squeezing the textile strands between said intermediate and said upper and lower rolls at desired relative pressures.

2. A textile process machine for executing a two-stage strand pressing operation, comprising a positionally fixed intermediate roll, a irst roll and a second roll disposed on opposite sides of said intermediate roll respectively, first lever means for rotatably supporting said first roll, second lever means for rotatably supporting said second roll, length-adjustable link means connesting the ends of the rst and second lever means at one side of the roll axes to adjust the relative pressures exerted upon the intermediate roll by the rst roll and the second roll, the opposite end of said second lever means being pivotally supported by said machine at the opposite side of the roll axis, the iirst lever means being pivotally supported by said machine at a point between the point of attachment of said link meansl and the axis of the roll, and powered link means carried byY said machine and pivotally attached to the opposite end of said -rst lever means for cooperation with said link means for squeezing the textile strands between said intermediate and said irst and second rolls at desired relative pressures.

3. A textile process machine for executing a two-stage strand pressing operation, comprising a positionally fixed intermediate roll, an upper roll and lower roll disposed above and below said intermediate roll respectively', upper lever means for rotatably supporting said upper roll, lower lever means for rotatably' supporting said lower roll, length-adjustable link means connecting the ends of the upperand lower lever means at one side of the roll axes to adjust the relative pressures exerted upon the intermediate roll by the upper roll and the lower roll, the opposite end of said lower lever means bein-g pivotally supported by said machine at the opposite side of the roll axis, the upper lever means being pivotally supported by said machine at a point between the point of attachment of said link means and the axis of the roll, and powered link means carried. by said machine and pivotally attached to the opposite end of said upper lever means for cooperation with said link means for squeezing the textile strands between said intermediate and said upper and lower rolls at desired relativey pressures.

4. In a textile processing machine adapted for executing a two stage strand pressing operation, machine frame means, an intermediate roll and upper and lower rolls disposed above and below said intermediate roll respectively with the three roll axes substantially parallel to each other, said intermediate roll being xedly journaled on said frame means, an upper lever fulcrumed on said frame means intermediately of its ends at a position out of line with the plane dened by the axes of the other two rolls and carrying said upper roll, a lower lever fulcrumed on said frame means at one of its ends out of line with the plane dened by the axes of the lower two rolls and carrying said lower roll, length-adjustable link means interconnecting one free end of said upper lever and the free end of said lower lever with the fulcrum point of said upper lever between said link means and the axis of said upper roll, and separate power means coupled to said frame means and to said upper lever and arranged to rock the latter for cooperation with said link means for actuating the upper and lower rolls downwardly and upwardly, respectively, relative to said intermediate roll for squeezing the textile strand between said rolls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 198,473 Stowe Dec. 25, 1877 748,593 Eck Jan. 5, 1904 1,879,296 Kane Sept. 27, 1932 2,138,397 Cannity Nov. 29, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,273 Italy 1885 22,308 Great Britain 1895 23,476 Great Britain 1907 

